💸 Thailand is giving away free money

PLUS: Elon Musk is fed up with California; A dinosaur just sold for over $44M

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TOP STORY
🇹🇭 Thailand is giving away $14 billion in cash

📸 AFP/Getty Images

Srettha Thavisin, the prime minister of Thailand, is giving away $14 billion in cash.

In an extremely controversial move, 50 million eligible businesses and individuals will be receiving up to $275 each in a program intriguingly named “The Digital Wallet.”

That’s a pretty nice Christmas bonus to be getting in the summer.

But why is Thailand starting to hand out its very own stimulus checks?

💬 "Economists have criticized the program, calling it an ineffective way to contribute to sustainable economic growth compared to other measures."

Yahoo Finance

💬 The U.S. government spent approximately $867 billion on stimulus checks as part of the COVID-19 relief efforts.

📸 Andre Malerba/Bloomberg

The government says that this scheme will cause an “economic tornado.”

Prime Minister Thavisin has said the stimulus and subsequent spending are expected to boost gross domestic product growth by 1.2 to 1.6%.

Who’s eligible? Digital wallet payments are only for lower-income Thais, defined as people with yearly incomes under $23,000 and savings of less than $13,700.

This is definitely an interesting way to jolt an economy, but only time will tell if stimulus can actually benefit a country.

💸 Thailand’s economy has averaged annual growth under 2% since 2015.

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TECHNOLOGY
🇺🇸 Elon Musk is officially done with California

📸 USA TODAY

Earlier this week, Musk announced that he was moving two of his companies, X (formerly called Twitter) and SpaceX, from California to Texas.

We all know California isn’t the easiest place to live anymore, but moving the headquarters of two multi-billion dollar companies in one week is a pretty crazy move.

So, obviously, we have to ask: what caused the move?

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (📸 The Washington Post)

The disclosures come after California Governor Gavin Newsom signed a new law that aims to prevent schools from informing families if their children identify as gay or transgender.

In response, Musk took to X, writing, “This is the final straw,” and that the law “attacks both families and companies.”

How so? California law prohibits school districts from requiring employees to disclose information about a student’s sexual orientation or gender identity without the student’s consent.

The biggest winner in all this is obviously Texas, which has seen a mass migration of companies to the Lone Star State over the past few years.

💬 “I did make it clear to Governor Newsom about a year ago that laws of this nature would force families and companies to leave California to protect their children.”

Elon Musk

💬 Texas is the #1 state business headquarters moved to in the past five years.

Commercial Real Estate Services (CBRE)

I mean, who wouldn’t want to move to Texas? 

The food’s awesome, no taxes, and the politicians are soooo nice.

I just have two words to say: Yeehaw, Elon!

“The move of SpaceX headquarters to the great state of Texas cements Texas as the leader in space exploration.”

Texas Governor, Greg Abbott

ARTS & CULTURE
🦖 A stegosaurus named ‘Apex’ just became the most expensive fossil ever sold

📸 Matthew Sherman

The Sotheby’s auction, which occurred today in New York, sold for a jaw-dropping $44.6M, despite being expected to sell for between $4 million and $6 million.

Talk about taking the over.

The dinosaur is 161 million years old, stands 11 feet tall, and measures 27 feet from nose to tail.

Seems like a lot of money to spend on a pet, what’s so cool about Apex?

Well, Apex is a remarkable ~80% complete and is considered one of the best stegosaurus ever found, whatever that means.

But of course, when it comes to buying something as rare as a dinosaur, there will obviously be some pushback.

📸 REUTERS

There are concerns that private collectors will keep the skeletons in their own closets (lol) and that the surge in commercial paleontology will hurt scientific research and make it too expensive for museums to buy important fossils.

So if you have a few mil lying around and an urge to role-play Indiana Jones, this is your chance!

💬 The fossil was unearthed in May 2022 on privately owned land in Moffat County, Colorado, near a town named Dinosaur.

USA Today

💬 In 2020, a T. Rex sold at auction for a (then) record $31.8 million. When it opens next year, it will be displayed in Abu Dhabi’s Natural History Museum.

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